Pages

Jan 19, 2016

Victims of childhood sexual abuse said Friday they were
disappointed that prosecutors had dropped a sex-crimes prosecution
against late British Jewish politician Greville Janner, who died before
court proceedings could begin.

Janner, a former Labour Party lawmaker and peer, died December 19 aged 87. At
the time he stood accused of 22 offenses in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s,
most involving boys in children’s homes in his central England
constituency. Eight of his nine alleged victims were aged 16 or under at the time.

His family denied all the allegations.

Janner also served as president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews — Anglo-Jewry’s main representative organization — from 1978 to 1984, and was a vice president of the World Jewish Congress until 2009.

Prosecutor Richard Whittam told a judge Friday that before Janner died, prosecutors had applied to introduce more charges. But he said the law “makes no provision for posthumous proceedings” so the prosecution is now over.

Liz Dux, lawyer for six of Janner’s alleged victims, said her clients were “devastated.”

“They understand the reasons why but that doesn’t make up for the
real travesty — that many gave their statements decades ago and have
been denied justice through a failure to prosecute earlier when Janner was alive and well,” she said.

Police and child abuse victims expressed outrage last year when
prosecutors announced they would not charge Janner, although there was
enough evidence to do so, because he had advanced Alzheimer’s.

The Crown Prosecution Service later reversed the decision and said a
judge and jury would conduct a “trial of the facts,” which considers
evidence but does not issue a verdict or pass sentence. It had been
scheduled to start in April, without Janner present.

Britain’s judge-led inquiry into institutional child abuse said
Friday it would consider the claims against Janner as part of its
investigation.

In a hearing in August 2015, Janner spent just 59 seconds in the
dock. He appeared in court wearing a soiled cardigan and using a walking
stick, and said “Oooh, this is wonderful” as he entered the courtroom.

The politician was one of a number of high-profile figures to face
historic sex abuse charges in Britain after BBC presenter Jimmy Savile
was revealed as a pedophile after his death in 2011, leading to a rush
of victims coming forward.

Even after it was credibly alleged Janner was a pedophile and had raped young boys, he was still protected.
This is the despicable state of affairs across the entire Western world
– high profile politicians and insiders can literally get away with
raping young boys.